Falling for Wolf Boy
by Crews
Summary: This is something I made up. It has to do with Gabriel and a girl before he meets Vivian. And as you can see, I suck at writing summaries.. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**If you like it/hate it, please review! -Crews**

Stupid dare. How could I let myself get drawn into the chaos of Jen and her clique? I must really be losing my mind. Miserably, I walked through the dark woods. If I hadn't, I would be nice and warm in my own room, curled up in my own bed, reading a book. But no, that would be too simple. Instead, I find myself out in the woods, in the dark, in the middle of winter. I must be mentally retarded, it was the only explanation.

The breeze picked up and I involuntarily shivered. Mad, mostly at myself, I replayed that conversation with Jen.

_"Ty, I'm throwing a party at my house, want to come?" Jen asked. I had just opened my mouth in semi amazement._

_"Me?" I asked. Why the hell would Jen even talk to me, much less invite me to her party?_

_"Yeah, you," she said. The friends that surrounded her were looking at her like she had grown an extra head and had possibly changed colors._

_"What for?" Jen had never done anything to me personally, but I still wouldn't trust her farther than I could throw her. People talked._

_"Just say you'll come. It'll be fun," she smiled. I could see why everyone liked her. She was pretty._

_Against my better judgment, I simply nodded my head, dazed._

_"Great! Be at my house at seven and dress warmly." That said, she gathered her group and left._

"We're going to have a scavenger hunt, she says. It'll be fun. You can go with Andy. Please. Jerk only stayed with me till I got lost, and then ditched," I grumbled. I hated fake people. Actually, I hated people in general. It really sucked to not have the best social life. I thought I managed well, just staying out of the way. Obviously I did something to piss Jen off. What, I don't know.

I continued walking between the trees. I knew that they eventually opened up near my friend Kevin's house, but I didn't remember just where.

The sound of running water drew my attention and I changed direction, heading for it. Maybe that would lead me out of this mess faster. I dodged beneath the trees and through the bushes, keeping an eye out for the water so that I wouldn't accidently step in it. It really was dark.

I reached a clearing, bright with the light from the full moon. It was nice to see the moon again. I had lost it while under the branches of the towering trees. The sound of the running water intensified. Finally, a steadfast point that I can follow out of here, I thought. This was perfect. I crossed the brief expansion of grass and found the water. It was almost sparkling.

"Wow," I whispered. I had never seen anything like this before. It was beautiful. A large tree stood off to the right of the creek, almost inviting me to sit beneath it. I sat down and leaned back against the bark, relaxing muscles I hadn't realized had been tensed. I wasn't afraid, especially of the dark, but something about these woods got to me, but I couldn't place it. I was probably just being paranoid. The worst thing that could live here would have to be the psycho squirrels, known to chase hikers which were actually kind of funny. Not that the squirrels were stupid enough to chase people, but that the people were stupid enough to run. I giggled out loud, contemplating whether or not I'd be able to find this place again.

A loud noise, made by something big crashing through the brush, made me jump. My heart started beating faster and faster. I tried to get up, but my muscles were locked in place. I couldn't even shut my eyes. I just stared at the spot, the spot where the sound was coming from and where no doubt it would come out at. Terrified, I waited.

The noise stopped as suddenly as it had begun, with one exception. Instead of being alone in the clearing now, there was also a guy. He wore pants, but no shirt, his hair, long enough to hang in his eyes, sticking up in many directions messily. He was holding onto his side and breathing heavily. He turned and glanced behind him. Whatever he saw must not have been good, because he bolted forward, moving away from the place he had entered the clearing.

The breeze stirred my hair, but I didn't move a muscle. I was statue-like, watching this strange guy running towards me. Suddenly he stopped. He lifted his nose and sniffed the air. Why the hell was he sniffing the air?

"Who's there?" he called. He looked towards the tree I was sitting under and seemed to narrow in on me with his eyes as his nose flared. Still grasping his side, he ran towards me.

The adrenaline must have finally kicked in because I was on my feet in a millisecond.

"Stay away," I said, wincing at how badly my voice wavered. He kept coming, ignoring me, and occasionally glancing over his shoulder. This action only made him move that much faster.

I sucked in a big lungful of air and prepared to scream with all my might. He stared at me, his face contorting in fear as he realized what I was about to do. I blinked.

I felt a hand cover my mouth and then I was roughly tackled to the ground, pinned under a massive body. The scream died in my throat. He didn't say anything, only gave me the _shut up you idiot_ stare that I got a lot from Kevin. Afraid, I nodded, showing him I wouldn't scream. Instead of letting me go, he kept his hand pressed to my mouth, and my body pinned to the ground. He looked up at the trees, which I now could no longer see.

He didn't move for a long time, meaning that I didn't move in a long time. In fact, we stayed that way so long, that eventually the morbid thoughts of rape and being killed left my mind and my heart rate slowed. I still worried about what was going to happen, but I knew I couldn't do anything about it where I was now.

Another noise caused my heart to accelerate yet again. This noise sounded even bigger. The man pinning me to the ground tensed, and I saw his skin ripple. What the hell?! Once again, I blinked, and just as suddenly, cool air filled the places where the guy's body had been. For a moment I was too stunned to move, but just for a second. I was on my feet in no time, amazed to see that two wolves were fighting in the clearing.

The first wolf was huge and dark brown, almost black in the moonlight. The second was more slight, and also a light gray color with an even lighter patch in the center of his back. Both were snarling, teeth bared, attacking each other. The scene was amazing. Both wolves seemed to be dancing. One would lunge, while the other swiftly rotated out of the way. If it wasn't for the growling, there wouldn't have been a noise to draw attention to them.

As quickly as the fight had begun, it ended. The brown wolf swiftly lunged forward, jaw open, and clamped down on the other wolf's ear. The gray wolf cried in pain, disengaged from the battle and took off. The remaining wolf stood looking off after it, panting. Slowly, it turned and seemed to look right at me. Without another sound, it dashed off into the trees, disappearing from view.

I stood there a few seconds longer, trying to come up with a way that explained this rationally.

"Okay," I started. "There was a guy, who seemed to be running from someone or something, what I'm not sure. Then he disappears and is replaced by two fighting wolves." No matter how I tried to wrap my mind around it, I only seemed to confuse myself more and more.

"Alright," I said loudly. "Never happened." I looked at the creek with longing, wishing that I may find and come here again, but knowing I probably wouldn't, turned and followed the creek back into the woods.

At last the trees began to thin out and I could see lights from houses shining. I breathed a sigh of relief, when I recognized Kevin's house. I ran to it, jumped up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Yeah." Kevin said, answering the door. It took him a minute to realize it was me. When he did, his look of confusion turned to concern. "Tyler, are you alright?"

"You would not believe the night I've had," I answered. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. Come on in," Kevin replied, stepping aside and motioning me in. Grateful, I entered and instantly relaxed when the door shut. I had felt eyes on my back, and was relieved to not feel them anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day at school, I saw Jen and her gang in the hallway and did my best to avoid them. I failed miserably.

"Hey Ty. Have fun in the woods last night?" Andy said loudly, getting everyone else's attention.

"Yeah," Jen added. She turned her full attention on me, her lips turned upward in a smug smile. "How was your night?" The whole group laughed and I could feel myself begin to blush. Damn.

"I, I…" I began, so nervous that I couldn't seem to speak.

"We found each other," a new voice spoke. I turned to see the guy who had been in the woods. The one who had disappeared, and been replaced by the two wolves. He did not look like a high school student. "We hung out, had some fun," he continued, grinning at me. All I could do was look stupidly at him.

"Huh," Jen said. Her tone made me snap my head and look from the new guy to Jen. She looked angry and I could guess why. This guy was gorgeous and he had said he hung out with me. He also wasn't worshipping the ground that she walked on. Jen had probably never had anyone not absolutely love her on site. Even the people she was mean to, like me, seemed to like her. She really wasn't going to like me after this.

Turning from Jen, I realized that the new guy had asked me a question.

"What?" I stammered. I hated being shy.

"I said, do you want to hang out again tomorrow tonight, you know, but this time for dinner or something," he answered patiently. He obviously guessed I wasn't the brightest and at that moment I couldn't disagree with him.

"Sure," I answered, proud that my voice didn't shake. "Come by my house at seven?"

"I'll be there," he replied. As he walked away, he brushed past me and I heard him say, "I'm Gabriel by the way," and then he was gone. Wow.

I turned my attention back to Jen and was shocked to see her watching Gabriel as he walked down the hall.

"You know the new guy?" she asked me in disbelief. She obviously hadn't heard him tell me his name.

"Yep," I lied. I normally was a crappy liar, but this time even I believed it.

"What do you know about him?" she questioned.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because, I want to know what is wrong with him that he likes you." I heard the _instead of me!_ that she had left off the end of that sentence. Uh oh.

Without waiting for me to answer, she lifted her hand and motioned for her pack of trendsetters and they abruptly left, leaving me staring after them, my mouth hanging open.

"Hey what happened?" Kevin asked. I jumped. I hadn't seen or heard him come up.

"Um, nothing, I mean that guy from last night was just here and Jen…" I trailed off, still not really believing it myself. I had to be dreaming, that was it. Only in my dreams would a guy like that, tall, muscular with sexy eyes and a nice smile, talk to me, me the geeky girl who liked to play sports and listen to play by plays of videogames my best friend, who was equally as geeky, had played the night before.

"That was him? Really?" he asked, drawing me back to reality once again.

"Yeah, that was him. Gabriel."

"Huh, he looks familiar," Kevin continued. He seemed to be concentrating on remembering, his forehead creased. A few seconds later, it relaxed. "Oh well, I'll remember eventually."

The bell rang, forcing Kevin and I to sprint to our next class, history. We arrived and sat down and the teacher began the lecture. I shivered. I felt like someone was watching me. Our desks faced away from the door, so I turned to look at it, but saw nothing there. I shook my head, ready to concentrate, but it never worked out. By the time the class was over, I hadn't retained any information and I still felt someone's eyes on me. I walked out the door with Kevin and saw Gabriel standing off to the side of the door. He was leaning back, eyes closed, with his arms crossed over his chest. Had he been watching me?

But even stranger than Gabriel watching me, was the fact that that gaze had felt exactly like the one from the night in the woods. What the hell was going on?


	3. Chapter 3

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What the hell was wrong with me? I had broken the biggest rule of my kind by letting a human see me and live. I couldn't keep from asking myself why? Why couldn't I kill her while she was out in the woods, alone? True, I had been in a fight that I possibly couldn't have won, but when it was over, I could have gone back to her.

I shook my head in frustration. It was dark and I was sitting out in a tree, watching through a second story window as the human girl slept. I could do it now, I thought, but I immediately put it from my mind. I would be on the run again, and there was no doubt that she had told that human boy, her "best friend" about what had happened. That meant that I would have to kill him too.

I looked at her sleeping form once more. She turned, restless, and settled down again, this time with her face towards me. She looked so fragile, innocent. I felt my heart beat become faster and faster. What to do, what to do.

No, I decided, ending my internal debate. I would see how much she knew on this date I had set. If she knew too much, she would have to go and I would be on the run again. If she knew nothing, I would just disappear. Satisfied, I shifted into a more comfortable position. I planned to stay the whole night, to watch her. I knew I was becoming obsessed with this girl, but I put it out of my mind. Two days with her wouldn't hurt. I leaned forward; a soft smile on my face, as the night began its slow descent towards the dawn.

I restlessly paced the hallway once more. It was almost time for class, and she hadn't arrived yet. I felt anxious, an emotion I wasn't used to. Where was she?

I smelled her before I saw her, and immediately I relaxed. Stupid, I chided myself, don't get attached to her. She came barreling down the hallway, narrowly avoiding tripping over a stack of books, and smacking into her locker. With a speed that even I was impressed with, she got her locker open. She switched out her books, slammed it shut and was on her way to class when she glanced in my direction.

She stopped dead, right in the middle of the hallway, and I fought the urge to laugh. Her eyes were wide and she stared at me. I could now see the dark circles that she had attempted to hide with make up and I became concerned. I had noticed that she seemed restless in her sleep. I had chalked it up to bad dreams, but looking at her now, I was pretty sure I could guess what she had dreamed about.

"Tyler," her friend came running up to her. "Come on, we're going to be late!" She didn't move so he followed her gaze. He met my eyes with surprise, but then motioned for me to make her move. Slightly surprised, I waved at her, and she blinked. She didn't seem to know where she was, but the other one had already managed to shove her part way down the hall. He turned and nodded in my direction. Interesting. He obviously didn't feel threatened by me. Did that mean that he didn't like her that way?

STOP IT! I commanded myself. Stop trying to get attached. You know it would never work. She is human, fragile. I turned my head, and closed my eyes. This was a bad idea. I couldn't seem to control myself. For the first time in my life, I was afraid, and it wasn't even for my own skin. It was for someone I had no business getting involved with. Shit.

"Hey, you're Gabriel, right?" A voice said. I opened my eyes and turned back around. It was that girl who had been bothering Tyler the day before.

"Yeah," I answered. I will admit, she was pretty, but she wasn't my kind of girl.

"My name is Jen," she continued. She held herself with an air that said that she was used to getting her way. This was going to be fun.

"Yeah?" I said again, making it sound like a question. I backed up a few inches closer to the wall and leaned back, crossing my arms across my chest. I openly looked her up and down and smirked. "What do you want?"

She seemed to not have been bothered by my bluntness, but at my smirk, her smile fell a tiny bit.

"I…" she began. She couldn't seem to speak. I lifted my eyebrows in anticipation, but she couldn't finish, which I could tell surprised her.

"Well, I got to get to class," I said.

"Yeah," she said. She seemed to be deep in thought, as I walked away.

"Wait!" she called. I stopped and turned back to see her quickly walking to catch up. "Why would you want to hang out with Tyler?" she asked. I pretended to think about it for a minute before I answered.

"I like her," I stated simply. I then turned and continued walking towards the science classroom. I technically wasn't high school age anymore, but learning wasn't so bad. And I would be close to Tyler.

This is bad, I thought as I opened the door. I didn't look back at Jen.


	4. Chapter 4

**Back to Tyler's POV-- tell me what you think! ~Crews**

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"You look fine, Ty," Kevin said for the sixteenth time. "He'd be crazy not to like you." I had been changing clothes for an hour now and Kevin, being the best friend that he was, stuck around for moral support. Although, unlike any girl friend, he was sprawled across the bed, Science Man magazine under his nose; I was just glad that he was trying.

"Okay, what about this one?" I asked, coming out yet again, a dark yellow cami, jean shorts and flip flops on. He glanced up and just as quickly looked back down.

"I would say that that one's a winner, because you've had it on three times now," he answered as he continued to skim his magazine. "It still looks amazing."

"Yeah," I said looking in the mirror, "I think I'll go with this one. Kevin," I turned to him, smile on my face. "You are the best friend a girl could have, you know?"

"I know," he replied. He had looked up too and was also smiling. "Just remember not to abuse the Kevin Awesomness," he said as continued to read.

I burst out laughing, collapsing on the bed next to him and though he tried to keep it in, Kevin burst out laughing too.

"Alright, alright. It wasn't that funny," Kevin announced a second later as he once again attempted to read his magazine. I pointed down at it.

"Anything interesting in there?"

"Yeah, but I've read it before. I swear there was something in here, a picture that reminded me of someone..."

"Huh," I said. "Well, I'm going downstairs, you coming?"

"Yep," he said getting up.

At the bottom of the stairs, I turned to go into the kitchen, Kevin right behind me when the door bell rang. I felt my heart stop as I turned back, facing the door.

"Ty. Ty?" a voice was saying. Kevin's voice.

"What?" I asked, coming out of my trance.

"Are you going to get that?"

"Yeah," I said. With shaking fingers, I turned the door handle and pulled. Nothing happened.

"Kevin," I whispered. He leaned closer. "I can't open the door."

Chuckling to himself, Kevin covered my hand, turned with me and pulled, opening the door to reveal Gabriel on the other side.

Just like that first night, Gabriel was…incredible. He had on a white tee shirt, board shorts and sandals and his teeth glistened as he smiled at me.

"Hey Ty," he said. I stared and ogled him, speechless. Kevin nudged me from his hiding place behind the door.

"Hey," I shouted stupidly. I had been saying hi to Gabriel and also yelling at Kevin for kicking me. Gabriel's face changed, doubt clouding his eyes and his smile shrinking slightly. His nostrils flared.

"Hey Kevin," he said, his look turning from confusion to understanding. "How's it going?" Kevin leaned over, his face visible over my left shoulder.

"Pretty good, Gabriel. How about you?" he asked.

"Fine." Turning to me, he asked, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," I responded. He offered his hand and I took it. I could feel myself blushing. "Kevin," I said turning back, "You can let yourself out?"

"Yep, I know the drill," he replied with a smile that said he was going to stay right there until I got back. As long as he didn't go through my journal again, I was fine with that, and returned his smile. Gabriel and I walked down the path. When we reached the end, my eyes widened at the sight of his motorcycle.

"Wow," I breathed as he handed me the helmet. I slipped it on and he turned and clipped the buckle shut.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. Gabriel smiled and started the bike, the engine roaring to life. We pulled out of my drive way and passed in front of my house.

"BYE!" I barely heard Kevin yell over the sound of the engine. Yeah, I would see him when I got home.

"So, I was hoping we could go to a movie and then dinner. Alright with you?" Gabriel asked as he shut off the motor of his bike in the movie theater parking lot. I couldn't really say no at this point so I nodded my head. We walked toward the ticket counter side by side, not really touching, but close enough so that if I wanted to, I could reach out and grab his hand.

None of the movies looked promising, but Gabriel looked like he had already picked one, so I let him talk to the teller.

"Two for _On the Rise_." He handed over twenty dollars; got the tickets and his change and we went inside.

"What is this movie about?" I asked as we headed for theater six. It sounded like a horror film, but I wasn't entirely sure. I would be happy if it was as long as it wasn't the fake looking type of horror. I really liked the give you nightmares kind.

"Werewolves," he replied. I stopped walking, shocked. He took a few more steps before he realized that I wasn't there anymore. He came back towards me, his face guarded.

"Why do you want to see something about wolves?" I asked. Honestly, I was a little freaked. I was going to see this movie with the guy that I saw that night in the clearing, the one who then disappeared, only to be replaced with wolves that had started fighting. The memories that had been plaguing my dreams, giving me nightmares that this movie would undoubtedly make even worse. People trickled by, heading off to their own movies, giving us questioning stares but otherwise oblivious to what we were doing.

"Because," he answered casually. "Do you not like wolves?" I felt like I was being tested, for what, I wasn't sure.

"I like wolves," I replied matching his casual tone. "Just had an odd experience with some is all."

"Really," he said. He looked happy, but a little disappointed at the same time. "Well," he continued, "If you want, we can skip the movie and go to dinner now."

"No, let's see the movie. We're already here anyway," I said. He seemed a little surprised by my answer but he simply shrugged and started walking towards the theater again.

"OMG! Is that Gabriel and Tyler?" a voice that I knew asked. By the way Gabriel tensed, he recognized it too. I turned and saw Jen and Andy walking towards us, plus lots of people looking at us curiously thanks to Jen's loud voice. I looked at Gabriel and noticed the muscle in his jaw flexing. Why was he mad?

"Jen," he said when she finally reached us.

"Can you believe this? All of us wanting to see a movie at the same place at the same time?" she laughed a little too loudly. She had obviously followed us. She must really think Gabriel was hot. She had brought Andy for crying out loud! Andy, who I didn't like very much, just stood to the side, looking a little bored.

"Hi Jen," I said quickly. That muscle was really jumping now. I couldn't believe he was getting this mad. I really wonder why.

"Hi Tyler," she responded with a sneer. "Gabriel," she said turning to him. "Do you want to sit together?" Her smile made me want to gag. Gabriel looked at me again and he glanced towards the door, raising his eyebrows questioningly. I nodded.

"Sorry Jen," Gabriel said, not sounding sorry at all. "We're actually on our way out."

"But the movie hasn't even started yet," she said, still smiling sickeningly.

"We've decided to miss it. See you at school," he turned and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me back the way we had come; towards the doors.

My heart racing, I kept pace with him as we walked through the parking lot to his bike, my thoughts swirling around the fact that he had his arm around my waist. When we reached the bike Andy's truck was parked right beside it. Once again Gabriel's nostrils flared and I once again had the strange feeling that he could smell things that I couldn't.

I held onto his back as we started down the road. After a few minutes, I felt his muscles relax and he took a deep breath. I again wondered why he had gotten so mad. True, those two were the biggest jerks on the planet, but he hadn't known them long enough to know that. I doubt that he had even seen Andy before, let alone talked to him. A list of questions began to take shape in my head and I couldn't wait to ask him all of them.

We pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant that sounded Italian a while later and I slid off painfully. The bike was cool, but it hurt my legs after a while. I took off my helmet and set it on the seat. Gabriel had gotten off the bike as well, and placed his helmet on the seat, but he didn't move towards the restaurant.

"Are you okay?" I asked. The expression on his face brought to mind the phrase, _if looks could kill_.

"Yeah, fine," he replied. I wasn't convinced. We stood there, silent, listening to the cars on the highway go by and the noise from the open door of the restaurant; the laughter and happy voices a harsh contrast to Gabriel and me.

"Do you mind if we skip dinner?" he asked suddenly. He had caught me by surprise, so it took me a second to respond.

"No problem. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

The awkward silence that we tended to fall into ensued yet again as we both thought of what to do. I still really wanted to ask him those questions.

"Got it," he said at last. He grabbed my helmet and handed to me. "I know where we'll go." He got back on his bike and I got on behind him, holding onto to his back. The motorcycle roared to life and we were off. Where to, I didn't know.


	5. Chapter 5

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As we rode, I couldn't help but replay the scene at the movie theater. Why the hell had Jen had to show up? If she hadn't shown up I would have…

_Snuck out, _a voice in my head answered. _Leaving Tyler._

Pain flared up in my chest. This wasn't good. I concentrated on her hands around my stomach and her cheek pressed against my back…

I'd done it. I'd done what I had told myself not to do. I had fallen for Tyler, for a human girl. Why was I so stupid? No, not just stupid, selfish? Why did I put my wants before her safety?

Unconsciously, I pressed the gas, speeding up. This made Tyler's arms tighten around me. I felt my heart break. I couldn't hurt her. Never.

I slowed down, saddened when she loosened her hold. We were there. Actually, where we couldn't ride the bike anymore. I slowed even more, feeling her lift her head and look around. There was no other traffic on this road which was surrounded by trees and underbrush. I pulled off into a stand of trees and turned off the headlight. Everything went dark. I felt her look up at the sky, and couldn't help but look too. The moon, half full, prickled at my skin, but I didn't answer. I wouldn't make Tyler see me as a monster. The stars were also bright, thanks to the absence of light. It was beautiful.

I slid of my bike, and turned to help Tyler down. She seemed a little surprised, but she let me help her. She took off her helmet and placed it next to mine as she continued to look around. Now that we were in the trees, the moon was barely visible.

"Where are we going?" she asked. She looked me in the eye with a confident, yet slightly guarded expression. I couldn't tell if she trusted me.

"Somewhere I like to go to think," I answered. _And fight_, that voice in my head added dryly. I took her hand and walked forward purposefully. I knew where I was going.

It took ten minutes to reach it, because I dragged Tyler over fallen trees and caught her when she tripped. I'd forgotten how little human eyes could see in the dark, and I became afraid that I was giving myself away. Being able to see in the dark was not human.

At the edge of our destination, I stopped and pulled Tyler to the front. I wanted her to walk in first. Still holding on to her hand, I allowed her to pull me through the last outcropping of trees, into the clearing.

I heard her gasp and her grip on my hand tightened. Even her back looked tense. I waited there, still hand in hand, as she got over her shock. I looked around at my favorite place in the world, noting the unruliness of it all. It wasn't a man-made clearing. The edges were jagged, and the stream followed alongside the trees on the farthest side. The grass was nice, it wasn't long and there were still a few flowers scattered around. The night noises had stopped when we had entered, probably because of me, but I wasn't going to say anything in case Tyler didn't notice.

Her grip tightened on my hand as she turned around and looked at me, and then at where we had entered. The shock was plain on her face. She knew.

_That's impossible!_ The voice in my head cried._ She can't know!_ My instincts surged up, telling me to fight, get rid of the threat, but I held back. That would mean killing her, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't even seem to go against my nature and run. Leave her here, run back to my bike and just leave this stupid town. Forget her.

She looked back at my face once more and I saw her shock turn to concern. For what? _Me?_

"What's wrong?" she asked. She took a step closer and touched my cheek with her free hand. _Maybe this could work…_

No. I took a step back, releasing her hand from mine and leaving the other floating in the air where my face had been. Hurt flitted across her face, causing that pain to flare in my chest again, but I stood my ground. I knew it would come to this, that I would have to hurt her, but could I actually do it?

It felt like my heart was being ripped in half. The part that wanted to stay with Tyler, the side that didn't want to leave her, fought against the part where my instinct would always reside. Again, the pain and confliction must have shown clearly on my face because she once more stepped forward, asking me what was wrong. Losing control, I stepped towards her too, and looked her in the eyes. I placed my palm on her neck, bent my head and kissed her.

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My body felt like it was on fire everywhere he touched my skin. His hand was on the back of my neck and his other hand was around my waist, pulling me against him. After the initial surprise and the _he's kissing me_ shock, my body seemed to act on its own. My hands were suddenly in his hair, around his neck, trying to pull us together even more. I had not been expecting this, either from him or from me. From all the pain and indecision on his face, I would have expected him to run, rather than kiss me.

The kiss's urgency began to dwindle, replaced by desire. He grabbed my lip with his teeth, making me gasp. I had never been kissed like this. Ever. He released it with a gasp of his own and pulled his lips from mine, breathing loudly. My breathing matched his as I met his stare. His eyes were bright and undoubtedly, so were mine.

Slowly, I untangled my fingers from his hair and loosened my hold on his neck, only to place them around his waist this time. I let my head rest on his chest as his grip tightened around my waist.

If only we could stand here, like this, forever.

The questions began to buzz around in my head, fighting for attention. I sighed. If I didn't address them soon, I was going to get a migraine. Why couldn't we stand here just a few more minutes? Seconds, even?

"I need to ask you a question," I told Gabriel as I pulled away farther. He dropped his arms and also took a step back, his neutral façade drawn once more, his eyes guarded.

"What?" he asked. There was no curiosity in his voice. Did he know?

"The first time I saw you, it was here," I began. I searched his face, but he didn't show anything. "and you were being chased by someone," I continued. "or _something_." Again, nothing slipped through his mask. He didn't say anything; add in any details, so I blatantly asked the question.

"What was chasing you?" If anything, his eyes narrowed as he looked at me. Why was this such a big secret? My imagination began to run wild. Maybe he was a thief who had just stolen a four hundred year old painting that he then hid in the woods. Or maybe he was a bank robber, running from the police, again, hiding his loot in the woods until a later time that he could get it.

What my imagination didn't take into account were the wolves. Could he have been running from them? If that were the case, why had he disappeared when the first one showed up? Where had the second one come from?

"And the wolves," I went on. By this time, he was no longer looking at me. His eyes were on the ground, his body language shouting his defeat. The silence became deafening and only then did I realize that there weren't any normal night sounds. It was dead quiet. No crickets, no frogs, no nothing.

"I knew," he began, still looking down. "I knew it would come to this." He looked up at me, his eyes shining yellow in the moonlight. Yellow?!

Suddenly his skin _rippled_. What was going on?

"I wanted to tell you," he continued, taking a step towards me as I took one back. His mask broke, letting me see the sadness that he had hidden underneath. I wanted to take him in my arms, apologize for whatever I had done to cause him that horrible sadness, but I couldn't move my feet. That's when I realized that I was afraid, frozen in terror. What was there to be afraid of?

Gabriel looked up at the sky and I followed his gaze, staring at the moon, half full. The pieces started to fit together in my head. The wolf appearing when Gabriel disappeared, the eyes following me through the woods; not just animal eyes. The werewolf movie that we had been going to see and his seemingly harmless questions that I had vaguely answered. His expressions and the mask he used to keep them in check. This clearing with its silence, the moon. Everything was connected. To him.

The realization must have shown on my face because his face clouded over, anger and fear dominating his features.

"You know," he stated. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides and I was sure now that the muscles under his skin were rippling. Changing.

I now knew why I was afraid.

Gabriel wasn't human, at least, not all the way.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey...I've finally just gotten around to adding this, sorry if it seems a little forced in a few places. I tried.**

**New Chapter on the way and possibly new story too so keep an eye out.**

**Thanks ~Crews~**

Gabriel and I just stood there staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. His expression remained the same; a mix between pain, anger and fear. My mind and body fought hard to win control of my motor skills. My body wanted to run, get away from him as fast I could. My mind wanted to race towards him and erase that horrible expression from his face. Since neither side seemed able to win, I stood still and the silence continued to stretch on.

However, the wheels in my head kept spinning. _He had wanted to tell me. He wanted to tell me and instead of being understanding, like how I want to feel, I step back and no doubt look scared out of mind. I'm the best, aren't I?_

What I was still having problems understanding was his expression. Why was he angry that I _finally_ figured it out? Didn't he just say that he was going to tell me?

Movement at the fringes of the clearing immediately drew my eye. A wolf was emerging from between the trees. It looked…triumphant? Why would a wolf look triumphant? The last few minutes caught up with me and I quickly looked at Gabriel. He was looking at the newly present wolf also. He looked annoyed more than anything, though.

_That's the wolf from that first night_, my sluggish brain finally realized. Why was I so slow? _Shock_, my brain answered for me. _Great, now it goes faster._

I focused back to what Gabriel was doing and realized that he was standing between me and the wolf now, blocking my view of it and its view of me.

A low growl started coming from Gabriel and my stomach flipped. He really wasn't human. He was a wolf, and a man. _Werewolf._

The grass started rustling and I could just imagine the other werewolf walking towards us.

"Gabriel," a voice called. It was female! "I see you brought a snack. Want to share?" Gabriel shifted and I caught a glimpse of a naked, _naked!, _woman. She had long dirty blonde hair that had leaves and small sticks sticking out in random places. She was _pretty!_

"Get out of here Morgan," Gabriel said almost calmly. "Do you really want me to beat you again?"

The woman, Morgan, laughed. "You wouldn't in front of the girl. I've been watching you Gabe. Really, falling for a human?" she sneered, still laughing. She said human like it was the worst insult imaginable. "Remember what happened last time? What was her name? Jess…"

"SHUT UP!" Gabriel yelled. He was no longer calm, at all. His back was tensed and I could see the skin rippling beneath his shirt. "You," he began, falling to the ground on his hands and knees with a groan. "Are dead."

My legs were suddenly unlocked and I raced the few feet to him.

"Gabriel," I breathed as I grabbed him by the shoulders. "Are you alright? Can you move?" I was getting freaked out. What was happening to him?

"Tyler, get back!" Gabriel ordered. I jumped back just in time to miss getting hit as his body convulsed, his back arching. Brown fur, the same color as his hair, began sprouting on his skin and his body started changing shape. Before I could even blink, Gabriel was no longer laying in the grass. At least, not human Gabriel. In his place, amid the tattered remains of Gabriel's clothes, stood a huge brown wolf.

I froze for the millionth time, well it felt like that many, that night, crouched less than two feet from it. It turned its head to look me in the eye, and I saw Gabriel's eyes staring at me. It really was Gabriel. I wasn't crazy, at least, I didn't feel like I was at that moment. Everything had finally clicked into place and I knew the Gabriel that he tried so hard to hide.

And I understood. Reality settled in around me. What I had once thought to be impossible, became possible. That's when my impending death finally broke into my thought process.

"Snack?" I whispered. Gabriel's eyes flashed with pain and then anger. He turned his wolf head with a growl and bared his teeth at Morgan. She was still in human form, and she had a look of complete and utter shock on her face. From what I could tell, she hadn't believed that Gabriel would change in front of me. Man was she wrong.

Gabriel began to pace forward, menacingly and fear flashed in Morgan's eyes.

"You haven't gotten rid of me, Gabe. You'll see, we belong together!" she cried as she started running back the way she had come. I swear, I only blinked and she suddenly wasn't there; replaced with a gray wolf. Gabriel was after her in an instant, following her from the clearing and into the woods.

The silence that followed their rapid chase was quickly filled with the sounds of crickets and frogs that I had noticed were absent earlier.

Minutes passed and I got the feeling that he wasn't coming back. Maybe he really wasn't happy that I knew. Maybe he thought it would be better if he just left! I could feel my heart crumble to pieces in my chest.

I knew where I was. From here I could get to Kevin's house. But did I really want to go?

My mind made up, I sat beneath the largest tree closest to the stream, resolved to wait for the guy/wolf I was falling for.

**********************************************************************************

Morgan would not escape this time. Her threatening Tyler, that had been it. Before, I would have bitten her on the ear, like last time, but now, she really was dead when I caught up to her. And catching up I was. I could see her gray tail flash back and forth as she dashed between the trees.

_Tyler_.

She was still in the clearing! What if Morgan doubled back and…

Forgetting my intent to kill, I skidded to a stop on the dying leaves and turned around, racing back towards the girl I had left behind.

Would she still be there? Did I scare her off? Would Morgan…? The thoughts pulsing through my brain spurred me on and I arrived at the clearing seconds later out of breath.

_How could a human do this to me?_ I paused, still concealed by the trees on the out skirts of the clearing.

My heart soared. She was still there and…_asleep!?_

Tyler sat beneath the tree closest to the creek, asleep. From here I could see her chest slowly rise and fall. Her head gently rested against the tree bark. _Had I been gone that long?_ I thought to myself. I could have sworn it had only been a few minutes, if even that. I slowly made my way to her, changing back to human form. I reached the remnants of my clothes and was surprised to see my pants were still more or less intact. Well, they'd cover me at least. I pulled them on and went over to Tyler's sleeping form and sat down besides her, leaning against the tree.

Though I had tried my best to be quiet, she stirred and moved her head from the tree to my shoulder.

"Gabriel," she sighed, still asleep.

I smiled, leaning back against the tree myself. Getting some sleep didn't sound like a bad idea.


End file.
